Tights, drawers, and the like, for expectant mothers and obese persons



May 15, 1962 B. HALPERIN 3,034,136

TIGHTS, DRAWERS, AND THE LIKE, FOR EXPECTANT MOTHERS AND OBESE PERSONS}Filed July 20, 1959 INVENTOR. BERNARD HALPERI 1 ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,034,136 TIGHTS, DRAWERS, AND THE LHQE, FOR EX-PECTANT MOTHERS AND OBESE PERSONS Bernard Halperin, Allentown, Pa.,assignor to Stretch Togs, Inc., Slatington, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed July 20, 1959, Ser. No. 828,031 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-224)The present invention relates to tights, drawers, and the like forexpectant mothers in particular and for obese persons in general.

'An object of this invention is to provide a novel and improvedconstruction for garments of this class which will take care ofabdominal size changes.

Another object thereof is to provide a novel and improved garment of thecharacter mentioned, which issimple in construction, reasonably cheap tomanufacture, comfortable to wear and efficient in carrying out thepurposes for which it is designed.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosureproceeds.

For the practice of this invention, the garment comprises threeprincipal parts, namely, a central panel cov ering the major portion ofthe abdomen and bent to straddle the crotch region; the rearwardly bentup portion of said panel, serving as part of the seat. This panel, ofspecial shape as will be described, is joined by seams to two similarblanks, one right and one left, which parts complete the garment.Expansion facility is provided for in the front portion of the panel,commencing from the crotch fold line and'extending upward some distance.Also, said panel is laterally stretchable somewhat and along its upperedge at the front, constituting part of the waistband, a draw stringthrough a hem is provided to adjust waistband size.

In the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, similarcharacters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

FIG. 1 is a front view of tights embodying the teachings of thisinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the front of the garment.

FIG. 3 is the back of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fiat view of the central panel, with a portion folded overto show the draw strings which may be included.

FIG. 5 is an end view of FIG. 4, showing how a fig leaf liner isattached. This shows the preliminary step.

FIG. 6 is enlarged with respect to FIG. 5, and shows the final step.

FIG. 7 is the blank or pattern for the two parts of the garment whichare joined by the panel shown in FIG. 4 to comprisethe whole garment.

The FIGS. 2-5 and 7 are drawn to the same scale.

In the drawing, the tights designated generally by the numeral 15comprises a central panel denoted generally by the numeral 16, seamedtogether with a righthand memher and a left hand member, which areindicated generally by the numerals 17 and 18 respectively. So assembledas shown, they form a tubular waist and hip portion, having dependingtherefrom a pair of tubular or closed leg portions 19, 20. The upperfront edge of the panel 16 constitutes part of the waistband of thegarment and may be provided with a hem 21 slit at center 22. Drawstrings 23, 24 lying through said hem, have their free ends extendingthrough said slit 21, while their other ends are stitched at therespective junctions of the panel with the 3,034,135 Patented May 15,1962 consists of three sections in continuity. Its lowest section 26 inFIG. 4, is downwardly from the fold line AB which is at the crotchregion, and may be an inverted isosceles triangle in shape, whose apexis designated by the letter B. In the garment, triangular portion ABE isbent to extend upwards from the fold line AB, and thus comprise part ofthe seat of the garment. The intermediate section 27 of the panel 16 andthe third section 28 of said panel are part of the front of the garment15. The section 28 is in the form of an inverted isosceles trapezoid andconstitutes a major portion of the front of the garment; the upper edgeof said trapezoid being along the waistline and extending quite near tothe sides of the garment.

The juncture of the panel sections indicated by the line CD is a littlebelow midway the distance between the fold line AB and the navel regionof the garment. The side edges of the intermediate panel section 27start at points C and D respectively and diverge to about half thedistance between the lines AB and CD running straight, the balance ofeach side edge is a convex curve, extending outwardly towards the sidesof the garment and respectively tangent to the sides AE and BE of thesection 26. In fact, if We maintain the line AB, the shape of the panelsection 26 may be of any convenient shape to serve as part of the seatof the garment. Of importance is that the panel sections 27 and Z8 serveas part of the front of the garment when the garment is laid out flat.

For economical manufacture, and desiring that the panel section 28 shallbe of material which stretches laterally, the sections 26 and 27 of thepanel are of one piece, while panel section 28 is another. A fig leaflining 29 may be applied to the sections 26, 27, so that the seam 46 ofthe parts 27, 28, 29 may be hidden by use of the assembly shown in FIG.6, made by seaming the inwardly bent ends 30, 3 1 and the bent inner endof the fig leaf piece 29, and then turning the fig leaf down as in FIG.6 to hide the seam 40.

To complete the garment, there are two blanks 33, one right and theother left like that shown in FIG. 7, each to provide the side portionsof the garment and leg portions as is known in the art. These sideportions, made of said blanks, are here designated as the parts 17 and18. However, the length of the line H] equals the length of the sideedge MD of the panel section 28, plus the length of the full side edgeincluding the arc G of the panel section 26, up to the crotch fold lineAB.

The blank 33 is of a form having a horizontal top edge, commencing fromwhich, a substantially triangular piece is cut out to form the notchHJU. The side edges of the member 33 are sewn together by a seam whichappears on the back of the garment as indicated at 34. This forms theupper part of the member 33 into a waist and hip torso portion, and thelower part of said member 33 is tubular and serves as a leg-coveringportion of the garment 15. The edge H], with point M of the panel 16 onpoint H, and the edge MD along the line HI are seamed together asindicated by seam 35. The lower portion of the edge H] is laid along theside edge of the intermediate panel section 27 which includes the arc G,and seamed together; such seam line being indicated as 36. The edge BEof the panel section 26 is seamed to the edge IE by the seam 37. Similarassembly is of course done to associate the other member which becomes17 with the opposite side edge of the panel 16, and then the back isclosed by seaming the meeting edges of which UE' is one of the members17, 18 by the seam 38. The seams along the edges CFE and DGE would ofcourse secure the lining piece 29. The line YZ on the blank 33'becomesone side edge of the garment, while the line IX becomes the inner sideedge of the leg portion 20, which is tubular.

The joinder of the lower portion of the straight edge HI along and withthe side edge of the intermediate panel section 27 as indicated at 36provides extensible covering I to take care of change in abdominalgirth. 'Ihis garment the draw strings 23, 24 and even the elastic band25 at the waistline are optional. Their presence, however, is desirable.

This invention is capable of numerous forms and various applicationswithoutdeparting from the essential'features herein disclosed. It istherefore intended and desired that the embodiment herein shall bedeemed illustrative I and not restrictive and that the patent shallcover all patentable novelty herein set forth; reference being had tothe following claim rather than to the specific description hereintoindicate the scope of this invention.

I claim:

In a garment of, the tights or drawers type for covering the torso of aperson from waistline downwardly and at least part of the legs, acentral panel having a horizontal fold line at crotch-covering region ofthe garment and constituting part of both the front and the back of thetorsocovering portion of'the garment; said panel being intermediate sidegarment portions which complete the torsocovering portion of thegarment; each of said side portions including a continuousleg-encircling part downwardly from extensionsof'the said {old line; thelower portion of said 'panel which extends from said fold line tosubstantially halt the distance to the navel-covering region of thegarment, being of the shape of an isosceles trapezoid; the lower half ofthe side edges of said'trapezoid, being each outwardly convex towardsthe sides of the garment'respectively; such convex portions of said sideedges being beyond the inner side edges of the leg-covering portionsrespectively when the garment is spread out flat; the respective meetingedges of said central panel and said side 7 garment portions beingseamed together; the parts of the edges of said side garment portionswhich meet with said convex edge portions, being straight when said sidegarment portions are apart from said central panel; such straight edgeparts being bent and'laid along said convex edge portions respectivelyand' seamed together respectively, said front portion of the panel whichis contiguous with said trapezoidal piece, extending substantially tothe waistline region of the garment and being horizontally stretchableand of the shape of an inverted isosceles trapezoidal figure; both saidtrapezoidal shapes having a common base line and a single piece oflining on the inner surface of the panel, lining that portion of thepanel which starts at said common base line and extends downwardly tosaid fold line and then upwardly on the panel portion which is part ofthe back of the garment; said panel being of two parts joined on theircommon base line with the top edge ofthe lining piece by a seam; suchseam being the sole means joining said panel parts to themselves and tothe lining piece edge at said common base line; the lower end of the topfront part of said panel and the upper end of the bottom front part ofsaid panel, being turned towards the back of the garment; such turnedback ends being in abutment; the upper edge of said lining piece being.turned "downwardly and rearwardly to the back of the garment; saidrearwardly extending edgeportion of said lining piece, being in abutmentwith the rearwardly turned end of the top front part of the panelwhereby a tour-ply thickness is formed along said base line.

- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

